Drawer guide



July 3, 1951 A. F. WALLER DRAWER GUIDE Filed Nov. 9, 1945 .om +T 5 mm a. :PT .Q S mw Su N. 1|! im", 5 4. L. n

Patented July 3,l 1951 DRAWER GUIDE Alfred F. Waller, St..Charles, Ill., assigner to St. CharlesY Manufacturing Co., St. Charles, Ill., a corporation of Illinois Application November 9, 1945, Serial No. 627,625

(Cl. 30S-3.6)

5 Claims.

This invention relates to drawer slides and is more particularly concerned with one made of sheet metal, specially designed and constructed to work easily without the use of any rollers.

The salient feature of the drawer slide of. my invention is the special formation of the slide and cooperating guide to give a sled runner action at all points where there would otherwise be a tendency for the relatively movable parts to scrape on one another and cut, or gouge, whereby to make for easy operation and at the same time reduce wear and tear and increase the life of the assembly.

In accordance with my invention the side face of the guide member is concaved so that the top and bottom longitudinal edge portions form rounded sled runners lengthwise of the side of the guide on which the slide attached to the drawer will slide with low friction because of the reduction in contact friction as compared with f the surface-to-surface contact there would otherwise be between these members. Also the front end of the guide is rounded across the top and bottom edges and on the inner side next to the slide, and the slide has its rear end portion flared upwardly and downwardly at top and bottom, and inwardly on its side portion away from the slide, for a non-scraping, non-cutting sled runner effect at all of these places to make for smooth and easy operation under all working unimproved constructions was often enoughto n make it very hard, if not impossible, to'. operate the drawer, is also very beneficial from the standpoint of furnishing a reservoir for the Wax or other lubricant which would otherwise be scraped out to the ends of the slide by the guide in the reciprocation of the slide.

The invention is illustrated in the accompany.- ing drawing in whichl Figure 1 is a side View of a drawer slide made in accordance with my invention, a rear portion of the drawer being shown in vertical section and the front portion rof the slide for supporting the same being broken away and indicated in dotted lines to disclose the guide;

Fig. 2 is a horizontal section through the guide and slide on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a cross section on alarger scale on line 3-3 of Fig. 1;

Figs. 4 and 5 are sectional details in a vertical plane on line 4 5 of Fig. 2,'showing the sled run- 2 ner action at the front and rear end portions of the slide;

Figs. 6 and 7 are fragmentary perspective views of the front end portion of the guide and rear end portion of the slide, respectively, and

Fig. 8 is a cross-section on the line 8-8 of Fig. l, on the same scale as Fig. 3.

The same reference numerals are applied to corresponding parts throughout' the views.

The reference numeral E! in Figs. 1 and 3 designates` a drawer adapted to be supported at oppositeV sides by drawer slide structures like that indicated at Ill, within a sheet metal or other cabinet. The drawer slide structure I0 is for the left hand side of the drawer as viewed from the front. lThe right hand drawer slide' structure is of course the counterpart of that shown. In other words, each of the two `drawer slide structures comprises a stationary guide rail I I adapted to be secured to the side of the cabinet, and a movable slide rail'IZ adapted to be secured to the side of the drawer.

The guide rail I l is made from a single piece of sheet metal bent to substantially channel-shaped section so as to provide upper and lower horizontal flanges I3 and I4 connected by a web portion I5. The front end of the web I5 is bent at right angles, as at I6, to close the front end of the channel, and there are attaching ears I'I Ybent from the edge portions of the flanges I3 and I4 at the front and rear endsof` the rail for fastening the 'same to the cabinet. The-slide rail I2 has the main body portion thereof made from a single piece of sheetV metal bent to generally channel-shaped cross-section, so as to provide the vertical web I3 and upper and lower flanges I9 and ZIJ. The anges are bentY to generally V- shaped section, as indicated at 2l, and the upper free edge portion 22' is bent into the vertical plane of the web portion it, and welded or otherwise suitably secured to the sidel wall 23 of the drawer 9. The lower free edge portion 2Q isbent at right angles to the plane of the web I8 to project under the bottom 25 of the drawer, to which the same is welded or otherwise vsuitably secured, thus greatly reinforcing and stiffening the drawer.

The web'portion I5 of the guide rail in'accordance with my invention is formed to provide a longitudinal trough or recess 2t on the outer side between the rounded upper and lower longitudinal ledge portions 2l and 28, whereby to provide clearance between the guide and slide rails throughout their lengths :and vreduce Contact friction, the space 26 making more than ample allowance for unevennesses in the paint orl other coating on the slide rail so that it cannot cause contact friction, that having been a serious problem with prior unimproved constructions. In Vother words, the rounded longitudinal edge portions 2l andV 28 act as sled runners and allow easiest possible relative sliding movement by reau son of the greatly reduced frictional drag. There is furthermore no danger of a slight variation in thickness of a paint coating causing the parts to stick or bind. The shallow recess 26 serves, in addition, to catch and retain for longer service a good share of the wax or other lubricant used between the parts, which would otherwise beV scraped out to the ends of the slide rail by the guide rail. Also, I have rounded the upper and lower front ends of the guide rail, as indicated at 29 and 30, and the inner side at the front, as indicated at 3I, to further promote the sled runu ner effect and thereby to reduce sliding friction to a minimum and make for easier operation. The sled runner eiect is obtained in movement of the slide rail relative to the guide rail in either direction, whether the slide rail engages the top,

the bottom or the side of the guide rail at the end. Figs. 4 and 5 show the relationship of the parts when the drawer is pulled out, the slide resting on the top of the guide at the front end, as in Fig. 4, the rear end engaging the bottom of the guide, as in Fig. 5. The rear end portions of the flanges I9 and 20 and web I8 of the slide rail are also given a sled runner formation by flaring the flanges upwardly and downwardly as at 32 and 33 and aring the web I8 inwardly as at 34 for a sled runner action, the importance of this being partially shown in Fig. 5, and to an extentalso in Fig. 2. Obviously, these sled run- -ner portions at the rear end of the slide rail function to give an easy sliding action in movement of the slide rail relative to the guide rail in either direction and whether the rear end of the slide rail engages the top, bottom, or side of the guide rail.

In operation, the drawer 9 works so easily that persons on i'lrst acquaintance with the construction assume that rollers are used to give the smooth and easy operation. Actual tests showed that under certain load conditions the drawer slides of my invention reduced the sliding friction as much as 40%, as compared with similar slides without the sled runners.

The guide rails I I require fastening in the cabinet only at their front end as a result of the supporting brackets 35 used at their rear ends, which are suitably permanently secured to the rear wall of the cabinet by their attaching lflanges 36 and are detachably connected to the rear end of the guide rails by two fingers 3l and 38 abutting the outer side of the ears Il on the lrear end of the guide rails while a curved spring tongue 39 is entered in the channel of the guide rail behind and pressed tightly against the web portion I thereof. The fingers 3l and 3B and tongue 39 all are bent substantially at right angles to the attaching portion 35 of the bracket 35, and the tongue 39 normally is disposed in the dotted line position indicated in Fig. 2 but is deflected to the full line position shown there when the guide rail is assembled onto the bracket, thus placing the interfitting parts under spring tension so that iingers 31 and 38 always tightly engage ears I'I, and tongue 39 always tightly engages web I5. In that way the inner end of the guide rails are not only firmly secured in assembled position and adequately supported but are furthermore braced and reinforced by the 4 brackets against distortion under load. The guide rails II are fastened at their front ends in the cabinet by bolts or screws entered through holes 40 in the ears I1.

In conclusion, attention is called to the catch 4I pivoted at 42 on the side wall of the drawer near the rear end thereof whichV has its free end projecting through a hole 43 in the slide IZ to engage in a slot 44 provided in the upper flange I3 of the guide rail near the front end thereof, whereby to prevent the drawer being accidentally pulled out of the cabinet and dropping to the floor. It is only when these catches are held raised by downward pressure on the finger grips 45 that the drawer may be slid out all of the way and removed from the cabinet. TheV inclined projection 46 on the hooked end of the catch rides up onto the top of the flange I3 by sliding contact with the flange at the rear end of the slot 44 when the drawer is pushed back, and in that Way the catch is automatically retracted from the slot. There are usually two of these catches on a drawer, one on each side.

It is believed the foregoing description conveys a good understanding of the objects and advantages of my invention. The appended claims have been drawn to cover all legitimate modifications and adaptations.

I claim:

l. A drawer slide structure comprising, in combination, a stationary sheet metal guide Vrail bent to channel-shaped cross-section to provide upper and lower track surfaces on the outer sides of its upper and lower longitudinal flanges, and a relatively movable sheet metal slide rail bent to channel-shaped cross-section and disposed in telescoping relation with the guide rail, the web portions of said rails being located on the same side relative to the iianges on said rails, the web portion of said guide rail between the upper and lower longitudinal edge portions being bent into shallow trough form so that the major portion of said web lies in closely spaced relation to the web portion of said slide rail so as to define later'- ally protruding narrow but smoothly rounded upper and lower sled runners on said longitudinal edge portions on said guide rail for low frictional sliding engagement on the web portion of the slide rail in addition to dening a shallow trough adapted to receive and retain a small supply of solid lubricant advantageously located for lubrication of the relatively slidable rails.

2. A drawer slide structure comprising, in combination, a first sheet metal rail bent to channelshaped cross-section,Y and a second sheet metal rail bent to channel-shaped cross-section and disposed in telescoping relation with the iirst rail, the rails being disposed Vwith their web portions onv the same side relative to the flanges, one of saidrails being a fixed guide and the other being movable endwise relative thereto as a slide for support of a drawer, the web portion of the inner one of saidY rails being bent between the upper and lower longitudinal edge portions into shallow trough form so that the major portion of said web lies in closely spaced relation to the web portion of the other rail,l so as to define laterally protruding narrow but smoothly rounded upper and lower sled runners on said .longitudinal edge portions Iof said inner rail for low frictional sliding engagement on the web portion of the other rail, in addition to defining a shallow trough adapted to receive andretain a small supply of solid lubricant advantageously 5 located for lubrication of the relatively slidable rails.

3. A drawer slide structure comprising, in combination, a stationary sheet metal guide rail bent to channel-shaped cross-section to provide upper and lower track surfaces on the outer sides of its upper and lower longitudinal flanges, and a relatively moveable sheet metal slide rail bent to channel-shaped cross-section and disposed in telescoping relation with the guide rail, the web portions of said rails being located on the same side relative to the flanges on said rails, the front end of said guide rail being bent to rounded form on its top edge and the slide rail being bent to rounded form at the rear end on its bottom edge to provide low friction sliding engagement between said rails in the movement of a drawer supported on the slide rail, the web portion of said guide rail between the upper and lower longitudinal edge portions being bent into shallow trough form so that the major portion of said web lies in closely spaced relation to the web portion of said slide rail so as todene laterally protruding narrow but smoothly rounded upper and lower sled runners on said longitudinal edge portions on said guide rail for low frictional sliding engagement on the web portion of the slide rail in addition to dening a shallow trough adapted to receive and retain a small supply of solid lubricant advantageously located for lubrication of the relatively slidable rails.

4. A drawer slide structure comprising, in combination, a stationary sheet metal guide rail bent to channel-shaped cross-section to provide upper and lower track surfaces on the outer sides of its upper and lower longitudinal flanges, and a relatively movable sheet metal slide rail bent to channel-shaped cross-section and disposed in telescoping relation with the guide rail, the web portions of said rails being located on the same side relative to the flanges on said rails, the front end of said guide rail being bent to rounded form on its top and bottom edges and the slide rail being bent to rounded form at the rear end on its top and bottom edges to provide low friction sliding engagement between said rails in the movement of a drawer supported on the slide rail, the web portion of said guide rail between the upper and lower longitudinal edge portions being bent into shallow trough form so that the major portion of said web lies in closely spaced relation to the web portion of said slide rail so as to define laterally protruding narrow but smoothly rounded upper and lower sled runners on said longitudinal edge portions on said guide rail for low frictional sliding engagement on the web portion of the slide rail in addition to dening a shallow trough adapted to receive and retain a small supply of solid lubricant advantageously located for lubrication of the relatively slidable rails.

5. A drawer slide structure comprising, in combination, a stationary sheet metal guide rail bent to channel-shaped cross-section to provide upper and lower track surfaces on the outer sides of its upper and lower longitudinal flanges, and a relatively movable sheet metal slide rail bent to channel-shaped cross-section and disposed in telescoping relation with the guide rail, the web portions of said rails being located on the same side relative to the flanges on said rails, the front end of said guide rail being bent to rounded form on its top and bottom edges and on its side edge and the slide rail being bent to rounded form at the rear end on its top and bottom edges and on its side edge to provide low friction sliding engagement between said rails in the movement of a drawer supported on the slide rail, the web portions of said guide rail between the upper and lower longitudinal edge portions being bent into shallow trough form so that the major portion of said web lines in closely spaced relation to the web portion of said slide rail so as to dene laterally protruding narrow but smoothly rounded upper and lower sled runners on said longitudinal edge portions on said guide rail for low frictional sliding engagement on the web portion of the slide rail in addition to deiining a shallow trough adapted to receive and retain a small supply of solid lubricant advantageously located for lubrication of the relatively slidable rails.

ALFRED F. WALLER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the i'lle of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,333,264 Long Mar. 9, 1920 2,318,800 Rakow May 11, 1943 2,325,896 Waller Aug. 3, 1943 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 355,108 Great Britain Aug. 20, 1931 528,845 Germany July 4, 1931 

